Pep Guardiola Plans To Take Down Manchester United

De Bruyne was given three weeks off after the World Cup, having played over 500 minutes of action in helping Belgium reach the semi-finals at Russian Federation 2018.

The 27-year-old sustained the setback during a training session on Wednesday and, following a visit to specialist Dr Ramon Cugat in Barcelona on Thursday, City have confirmed his diagnosis.

However, it is understood that the club remains hopeful he could be back in action sooner, meaning De Bruyne - who was voted as City's player of the season as they won the title with a record number of points - would return before the end of October.

Guardiola's side got on fine without the attacking midfielder in the Community Shield win over Chelsea and in last week's 2-0 victory at Arsenal, where he played the last 30 minutes. "We don't look at the other teams, we really only try to make the best of our situation, and that will hopefully work".

"We never know. My opinion is that when you ask a lot of the players, over more than 11 months, then after he comes back, this (injury) can happen", Guardiola told reporters on Friday.

More compelling insight is sure to come from the documentary series as it covers the title win but also crushing defeats to United and Liverpool.

De Bruyne's absence is set to give David Silva more opportunities to impress, with the Spain playmaker free to commit himself to club duties after announcing his worldwide retirement on Monday. If you disagree, complain to me for my decisions.

The midfielder won the 2010 World Cup, as well as the 2008 and 2012 European Championships, before announcing his worldwide retirement earlier this week. He is one of the most fascinating, incredible players in the whole history of Spain. "He made a decision to rest a little bit more with his wife and his little boy, and play with us".